"Flint, Eric - Weber, David - Honorverse SS - From the Highlands" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flewelling Lynn)

understanding.
"Robert, the reason the Admiral's theory is nonsense is because
it's in the nature of things that a long-run campaign of
disinformation has to be reasonably stable. Disinformation
campaigns take timeЧlots of time. You can't suddenly have your
turned agent start flooding his own intelligence service with
'information' which seems odd and contrary to other information.
It has to be done in a careful and subtle manner. Slowly adding
one little bit of information at a time, untilЧover a period of
months, more often yearsЧa warped perception of reality
becomes accepted without anyone really knowing when and how
it happened."
"All right, I can understand that."
Zilwicki ran fingers through his short-cropped, coarse black hair.
"Kidnapping a man's daughter and using her as a threat is about
as far removed from 'stable' as I can imagine. Even if the father
involved submitted completely, the situation would be
impossible. If nothing else, in his anxiety the father would push
the campaign too quickly and screw it up. Not to mention the
difficulty of keeping a captive for a long period, on foreign soil
where you can't simply toss her into a prison. And you'd have to
do so, because under those circumstances the father would
insist on regular proof that his child was still alive and well."
For all the captain's tightly controlled speech, his anxiety drove
him to his feet. "Say whatever else you want about the Peeps,
Robert, but they're not stupid. This is completely out of character
for them in a hundred different ways."
"So now what shall we do?"
"I'll start with my contacts in the Chicago police," growled Zilwicki.
He stalked over to the side table and stared down at the piece of
paper resting on it. A cold, almost cruel smile came to his face.
"Can you believe this? An actual ransom note?" The barked little
laugh which followed was harsh. "Professional intelligence! God
in Heaven, what Hendricks knows about that subject could be
inscribed on the head of a pin. Or his own head."
The savage smile widened. "Apparently, these so-called 'pros'
have never heard of modern forensics. Which is not the least of
the reasons I don't think this was done by the Peeps."
Zilwicki's eyes moved to the door of the apartment. The same
door which, the day before, someone had managed to open
without leaving any sign of a forced entry. "Everything about this
operation smacks of amateurs who are too clever for their own
good. Oil mixed with water. The ransom note is archaic. Yet the
door's modern security devices were bypassed effortlessly.
"Idiots," he said softly. "They'd have done better to burn it open.
Would have taken a bit of time, with a modern door. But as it is,
they might as well have left another note announcing in bold
letters: inside job. Whoever they were, they had to have the
complicity of someone in the complex's maintenance staff.
Within twenty-four hours, if they move fastЧand they willЧthe